GLENDALE — Thus far, it’s been quite a season for the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team.
The Tologs won at Chamdinade for the first time ever, they beat Harvard-Westlake for the first time in nearly a decade and, now, they’re hosting a playoff match for the first time since 1997.
The CIF Southern Section released the girls’ soccer playoff pairings Monday afternoon, with Sacred Heart, Crescenta Valley and Holy Family all along for the ride.
The Falcons will host a Division II wild-card game against Lancaster at 3 p.m. Wednesday, while the Gaels will take to the road, traveling to Fillmore for a Division VI match that same day for a 3 p.m. contest.
The Tologs (12-7-4), meanwhile, have until Saturday to prepare for Dos Pueblos in their Division I showdown.
“We’re just trying to slay monsters here,” joked Tologs co-Coach Frank Pace in reference to his team’s wins over Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake and earning a home playoff game. “Maybe it’s time to get another monkey or two of our back.”
The next monkey would be winning a playoff match for the first time since 1997.
Eleven years ago, the Tologs defeated Mayfield, 4-3, to advance to the CIF quarterfinals.
Last year, Sacred Heart failed to make the playoffs, stopping a four-year streak. They’ve returned to face Dos Pueblos (6-9-7), the second-place finisher in the Channel League.
Despite the Charger’s sub-.500 record, they’re unbeaten in their last seven games — four of those games have been ties.
Sacred Heart took second in the Mission League and now faces the playoffs with a homefield advantage to start and a healthy squad.
“I think we’re healthy as we have been all year,” said Pace, who has a healthy Carly Crowder, Sam Norton and Carter Vettese after all had incurred injuries at some point during the year. “It’s just nice to play at home. [It’s] one less intangible we have to deal with.”
Sacred Heart will play at 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. at St. Francis.
Saturday’s winner will play the winner of Marina at Northwood on Feb. 20.
Crescenta Valley (14-5-3), the Pacific League third-place finisher, hosts Lancaster in a wild-card match Wednesday.
Lancaster (11-8-3) is the third-place team from the Golden League.
